Birthday for 'oldest person,' age 115

Birthday for 'oldest person,' age 115
The world's oldest known living person has celebrated her 115th birthday.

Gertrude Baines was honoured at a convalescent hospital in Los Angeles with music, a letter from President Barack Obama, and a cake with candles.

Friends sang to her and she was presented with a certificate from Guinness World Records.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7987133.stm




World's oldest person dies at 115
The oldest person in the world has died in Los Angeles at the age of 115.

Gertrude Baines, who was born on 6 April 1894, put her longevity down to clean-living and her religious beliefs.

Ms Baines's doctor said she had attributed her long life to a healthy lifestyle and her religious beliefs.

The title of world's oldest person now passes to a 114-year-old Japanese woman, Kama Chinen.

Officials at the Western Convalescent Hospital, where Ms Baines had lived for several years, said she had died at 0725 local time (1425GMT).

"She told me that she owes her longevity to the Lord, that she never did drink, she never did smoke and she never did fool around," the AFP news agency quoted Dr Charles Witt as saying.

He said two days before her death she had been "in excellent shape".

"She was mentally alert. She smiled frequently," he said.

Ms Baines, whose father was once a slave, was believed to be the oldest ever African-American voter when she cast her ballot for US President Barack Obama in November 2008.

She said she was voting for him "because he's for the coloured people".

She celebrated her 115th birthday in April and received a letter of congratulations from Mr Obama.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8251898.stm

Wikileaks files show UK considered 'paranoid' by US

Wikileaks files show UK considered 'paranoid' by US

4 December 2010 Last updated at 08:43
GMT Help Newly released files by Wikileaks highlight what is described as the UK's "paranoia" about its so-called special relationship with the US.

In one cable, a senior US diplomat describes "excessive UK speculation" after Barack Obama became president.

"This over-reading would often be humorous, if it were not so corrosive," says the cable, as reported in the Guardian.

Nick Childs reports.

Burj Khalifa -tallest building in the world

http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper is a world-class destination and the magnificent centerpiece of Downtown Dubai , Dubai's new urban masterpiece. The world's tallest building is surrounded by hotels , must-visit shopping destinations and a world of entertainment options.
Bringing Burj Khalifa to life required a combination of visionary ideals and solid science. In the process, the project amassed an awe-inspiring number of facts, figures, and statistics.

World Records
At over 828 metres (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records:

• Tallest building in the world

• Tallest free-standing structure in the world

• Highest number of stories in the world

• Highest occupied floor in the world

• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world

• Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world

• Tallest service elevator in the world

Tallest of the Supertall
Not only is Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building, it has also broken two other impressive records: tallest structure, previously held by the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, and tallest free-standing structure, previously held by Toronto’s CN Tower. The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has established 3 criteria to determine what makes a tall building tall. Burj Khalifa wins by far in all three categories.

Height to architectural top
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building. This includes spires, but does not include antennae, signage, flagpoles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely used and is used to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat rankings of the Tallest Buildings in the World.

Highest occupied floor
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest continually occupied floor within the building. Maintenance areas are not included.

Height to tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element. This includes antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment.

What's Inside
At the Top, Burj Khalifa
Observation deck on level 124

At.mosphere, Burj Khalifa
Fine dining restaurant on level 122

The Residence
900 Burj Khalifa residences

The Corporate Suites
37 office floors

Armani Hotel Dubai
160 guestrooms and suites

Armani Residences Dubai
144 private residences

The Park
11 hectares park, 6 water features
3000 underground parking spaces

The Club

4-storey fitness and recreation annex

In The Sand

In The Sand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJu9dX5bzPk&feature=related

CHINA POLICE AND CIVILIANS FIGHT STREET ROBBER

CHINA POLICE AND CIVILIANS FIGHT STREET ROBBER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuCcLpDjmiQ&feature=player_embedded

Open your eyes, open your heart.

Why waste water

Help us conserve water with car wash

At TOTAL we always try to consider the environment and offer you a greener option wherever and whenever possible. Our car washes are no exception. According to Thames Water statistics, washing a car at home with a hose uses, on average, 650 litres of water. Across the 65% of car owners in the UK who wash their cars at home by hand, that equates to almost 130 million litres of water - if you can’t picture what that looks like, it’s approximately 52 Olympic sized swimming pools down the drain every single day!1

We like to think we're a bit different; our car washes are designed to get a fantastic result, yet they are able to do this using much less water than washing at home with a hose. To put it simply if everyone changed to a TOTAL car wash, together we would save around 110 million litres of water every day - amazing! Plus, at a number of our sites our car washes are now able to fully recycle all the water they use so it's kinder to the environment.

For a car wash with a conscience, you know where to turn.

1Source: Thames Water. When washing a vehicle by hand with a hose, we use between 400 and 900 litres of water, or an average of 650 litres. 71,400,000 hand car washes take place annually in the UK (Datamonitor), or around 196,000 per day. 196,000 car washes multiplied by 650 litres of water equals 127,400,000 litres of water across the country.
Source: Fina. Olympic size swimming pool holds 2,500,000 litres of water (assuming 2m depth)